David Biron's lab contains arrays of microscopes in darkened rooms, all focused on tiny worms in various stages of development. These worms have cameras trained on them day and night, generating tens of millions of images ...

Scientists at the University of Oulu, Finland, and at the Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) have shown the way to new directions in drug development against African sleeping sickness and other tropical parasitic infections. This ...

Sleep disorders are reported to affect 50 to 70 million Americans, and have been linked to obesity and diabetes, as well as depression and other psychiatric disorders. Circadian cycles are driven by biological clocks that ...

By studying hibernation, a Duke University team is providing a window into why humans sleep. Observations of a little-known primate called the fat-tailed dwarf lemur in captivity and the wild has revealed that it goes for ...

While farmers' well-being at work is not directly visible to the consumer, it forms an important part of responsible food production. In her doctoral dissertation, Marja Kallioniemi, research scientist at MTT Agrifood Research ...

(Phys.org) —A $149 consumer version of a sleep-tracking system, consisting of both sensor and smartphone app, is aiming for funding via a campaign on the crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo. Finland-based Beddit on Wednesday ...

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the University of Lausanne have discovered that the sleeping patterns of baby birds are similar to that of baby mammals. What is more, the sleep of baby birds appears ...

Sleep disorders are a widespread problem. With the aid of smartwatches, researchers are analyzing sleep movement patterns and assisting doctors with diagnosis and therapy. Burnout and diabetes patients stand to benefit.

(AP)—A St. Louis-based drug maker is paying $3.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit that it illegally paid doctors to prescribe out-of-date antidepressants and sleep aids to Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Sleep

Sleep is a natural state of bodily rest observed in humans and other animals. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and it is more easily reversible than hibernation or coma. It is common to all mammals and birds, and is also seen in many reptiles, amphibians, and fish. In humans, other mammals, and a substantial majority of other animals that have been studied (such as some species of fish, birds, ants, and fruit flies), regular sleep is essential for survival.

The purposes and mechanisms of sleep are only partly clear and are the subject of intense research.